Seraina reigned in the shock of seeing her old friend and got to her feet. Of course, the person wasn't the real Asher... It couldn't be.
Although the novel worlds were almost identical to the one Seraina was from, there would always be slight differences: the customs, the people that inhabited these places, and other things that were exclusive to only that world.
Even if that were the case, it was still possible that there would be people who were identical to someone from a different world, but they still wouldn't be the same person. That was what Seraina was choosing to believe, and it was the only thing stopping her from breaking down.
Time was another thing that was different in each Novel World. The years she spent in these worlds wouldn't be the same as in her original world, so Seraina didn't know for certain how long she had been gone from there. Would things have been different if someone else had been chosen as the Host?
There was no way for Seraina to know, and there was still a long way to go before she could return there. Completing these tasks might've been easy until this point, but no one - not even the Main System - could be certain that it would always stay that way. Things were always changing. And while Seraina and the systems were growing stronger from the energy collected from the completion of the novels, so were the Plotters.
Up to this point in time, the Plotters had only done little things to disrupt the plot, making it simple for Seraina to come in and fix it. However, in this world, Seraina had the strangest feeling that this was about to change; the sudden appearance of her childhood friends showed that something had gone off course, and upped the difficulty of this Novel World.
The man, Asher, waited for the woman before him to collect herself and stared out of the window, focusing his attention on the trees that could be seen there.
Something had shifted in this plane and he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was; the only thing he could tell for sure was that there was something different about Seraina. Well, the version of her that existed in this world.
Deep down he knew from the get-go that she was not the one he grew up with, but when he had first arrived here, he took solace in the fact that she was in the same world as him. And not on the other side of the city like she was in the original one.
Getting back to the present, there was a movement from Seraina's side and she settled herself on the armchair before the desk, as she tried to make it seem like everything was normal.
Seeing this, Asher suppressed a smile, and said, "excuse me for coming here without making my presence known." He picked up the album off the ground and, upon seeing the photo presented on the page, something in his eyes darkened.
"It's fine." Seraina showed a polite smile and changed her tone of voice to something meek. "Was there something you needed to tell me?"
"Ah, yes." Asher seemed to remember something and said, "Callen and his parents have left the house on some business, and as the weather is nice, I thought you'd like to join me to take a walk in the gardens." At the mention of Callen, rage boiled in his chest, and he reined it in before it exploded.
Earlier he had been sitting in Callen's room, while he chatted with him about certain things when Callen had gone out of the room with the excuse of using the bathroom. However, what he had gone to do was stand outside his fiancee's room, and not move from the spot until he was fully satisfied - the reasons were unknown as to why he did this, and Asher hadn't been aware of what the other man was doing. It was only when he went out of the room and saw Callen outside the room that something within him snapped.
He wanted to rush up and stop Callen from what he was doing, but he knew that anything he did would bring even harsher punishments down onto Seraina, and that was the last thing he wanted. He was already doing his best to make things easier for her, without making it worse; it was the only reason he was here in the first place. As soon as possible, he would take her away from there.
Away from this family, the marriage that was akin to a ball and chain, and away from everything that would harm her. This was what he had decided since he had received the plot of this world from the System assigned to him, and nothing would stop him from carrying out his plans.
No matter what, the plot of this world had to be rewritten, and not end the way it was intended to; he would see to it that the Seraina of this world had an ending that she rightfully deserved.
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